


Shattered Shatterpoints

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Dooku the Rat [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, can he never have to do this again?, this isn't what obi-wan signed up for, why did dooku have to complicate things?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 10:46:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6953509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mace comes to, never even having seen or felt the unconsciousness slap him down. Now if he can just finish this fight and go find out why...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered Shatterpoints

Mace Windu's hearing came back first, "--eral Windu! General Windu!" in Razor's familiar voice. What was not familiar was the feeling of armored hands locked on either shoulder... shaking him? He blinked, a haze over his vision, and the rocking stopped. 

Yes, apparently his trooper had, actually, been shaking him. His voice changed tone, relief pouring in, obvious even past the filter of the mask, "General, thank stars, you're back with us!" 

"...possibly," Mace replied, swallowing once, attempting both to center and evaluate himself. He wasn't entirely certain of that assertion, yet. A breath in returned a great deal of clarity, a breath out and a second in brought more steadiness, and he tried sitting up. "What... happened?" 

"I don't know, sir! You were covering us from a squad of B2s when you just -- just went down, General. We didn't see anything hit you, I've checked with every brother." 

Mace reached inward, finding… a rolling clarity of self and openness in the Force that had been lacking for so long. "What -- " He shook his head a little, before he recognized the outer edges of snapped shatterpoints in his own mind. Something major had happened. Something big enough to backlash through his control of the points and push him unconscious. "Let's get this mopped up; I'm needed in the Temple," he said firmly, finding his lightsaber… on his trooper's belt. He held his hand out for it, all business now.

"Yes, sir," Razor agreed, handing the lightsaber over to him. "We got the B2s and pulled you back to cover. Hasn't been long, though. Seven, eight minutes?" 

He got to his feet and put a hand down for his General. That had scared about fifteen years off his kriffing life, seeing Windu just... drop and nearly fall over his own slagging lightsaber! But he was back with them now, hard-eyed and jaw as set as any brother's, focused back on their mission. 

Namely, clearing out these slagging droids that'd gotten onto the planet! 

Mace nodded, and then turned his attention to the battlefield from where they had pulled him to. If he just….

In the next moment, he was gone, the Force feeling clear and coming easily to him, his lightsaber an extension of his will as he made it his mission to end this as swiftly as he could, and keep his men safe.

He would figure out what in the Force's own Name had happened _later_. 

+++ 

They'd made it back to a gunship, the droids that had scattered from a destroyed lander all taken care of, when the word crackled through his command channel. "Ship inbound from the Separatist flagship, Generals. Nothing we recognize, but the transponder is squawking Generals Skywalker and Kenobi's ident, and surviving fighters confirm audio match." 

"Confirmation via Skywalker's astromech on that transponder?" Mace didn't understand how an astromech could have survived this far into the war doing half the things that one did, but it would be one more layer of safety if they verified its presence.

"Yes sir!"

"What's the ship's heading?" Mace asked. He'd bypass the Temple if they were headed elsewhere.

"Straight for the Jedi Temple landing pad, General Windu." The trooper's voice sounded slightly baffled by that. 

"Alright, try to get any transmissions from that ship routed to us, and get us to the Temple quickly!" Mace wondered what in the name of the Force those two had done this time… and how it related to the fact he had blacked out.

"Yes sir!" 

+++ 

Waiting for the ship -- and the ship was as odd-looking as it neared the pad as the report had suggested. It might have started as a Geonosian sloop, but had been modified almost past recognition -- to land had given Mace Windu time to actually center himself, to gather his composure and attempt, for a moment, to adapt to the sudden incredible clarity in the Force. 

He hadn't felt the Force like this, been able to so deeply feel that the Force was truly everywhere, everything, binding each being into the life-web of shatterpoints and existence, since... 

"Since before Qui-Gon we lost," Master Yoda said, as the tip of his gimer stick tapped across the decking. Mace was not surprised at the arrival, nor even at that his long-time friend had so easily known what he was thinking. 

"Dooku could not have been the Master. As interesting a ploy as it would have been to hide the Master as the student, I do not see that," Mace said, evaluating the situation. "Yet, with the shadows raised, it is obvious that the Master has been eliminated, or at least nullified."

And why was he not surprised that Skywalker and Kenobi were in the middle of it?

Yoda shook his head, looking up at him, then towards the ship that was dropping landing gear and slowing with the whine of repulsor-lifts. "Alive, my former Padawan is. 

"Alive... and present. A most strange turn of events, this is."

"Not the one we sent that pair after," Mace said, as surprise did shoot through him at that. He reached out, looking for the current shatterpoints lurking in the Force… and they had shifted from any that he had been holding awareness of. "We'll have our answers in a moment, it seems."

From the direction of the Senate, another ship was swiftly approaching, escorted by some of Mace's own force rather than the Coruscant Guard.

"Sir, we had a request to assist Senator Bail Organa," one of his sergeants, Clip, he thought, reported as a hail from the escort ship. 

Bail? 

Mace blinked once, twice, and shoved that aside for later, as well. The ramp of the odd ship was already dropping, clicking against the decking, as the Senatorial ship approached. As soon as it had hit the ground, there were boots visible. Three sets, two standard Jedi-issue, and one (between them) gleaming black and almost reeking of the fortune they must have cost. 

His one-time friend and teacher walked down the ramp between Kenobi and Skywalker, his balance somehow off, his shoulders wrong for binders, his face almost chalky. What was going on, and where was the Chancellor? 

Yoda's mouth set in a thin line as he regarded the trio descending. 

"Anakin, mind the Count," Obi-Wan said softly, transferring the control of the Force-hold and awareness to his partner rather than make Anakin be the one to report. Anakin bristled slightly at the order, then realized why, and relaxed. He held his focus on Dooku intently; no one was getting stabbed this time.

Artoo came down behind them… and he had his prod out just in case. Electric shocks were great for breaking a Force user's concentration.

"We've got him," Anakin acknowledged, allowing Obi-Wan to move down to where Mace and Yoda were.

"Masters, I must inform you that our objective was not met, but our overall mission of stopping the Sith was," Obi-Wan said. "Count Dooku is willing to speak of evidence concerning the identity of Darth Sidious… who is now dead." His eyes were clear, his face only strained by the injuries he'd taken in recent fighting, and not a trace of Dark Force on him, as Mace swiftly verified.

Absolute confusion roiled through him for a moment, before the realization struck. He had seen Palpatine as a shatterpoint of immeasurable magnitude for years, but never even suspected the possibility that... but if Kenobi was...

"Palpatine?" Mace demanded as all those pieces suddenly clicked into place.

"I believe it best to wait for the Senatorial party to join us, and to move this inside," Obi-Wan told him.

Master Yoda nodded, humming a low note of agreement, before Mace's attention went back to Count Dooku and he finally saw why his one-time friend looked so wrong. Both of his hands were missing, neatly severed at the wrists, not simply hidden in sleeves as they tended to do. How had Kenobi _or_ Skywalker managed not just _cho mai_ but _mou kei_ against the master of Makashi? How?

They were among the best he had ever seen, but still... 

The Senatorial ship landed, and the escort vessel flew off, back to join its squadron. Kenobi looked over as a motley crew of Senators emerged, with Bail at the forefront. 

"Senator Organa, I do apologize, to you and your peers, for the hasty request," Obi-Wan said smoothly. "Please come inside, as the news we bear is difficult at best."

Anakin searched through the group, wondering if Padmé was among them. Surely she would be! ...but then, she and Bail were often united...

Yoda turned to go back inside the Temple, leading the way to a room large enough to accommodate them all, with recording equipment. Even he thought Kenobi's use of 'difficult' was a vast understatement.

"What is **he** doing here?!" one of the Senators suddenly demanded, freezing in place as xe stared at Count Dooku. "And not in shackles?!"

Mace took a breath as Dooku lifted his wrists, that aristocratic mouth twisting slightly as he had to struggle to do it. "I am quite firmly secured, Your Grace, and... rather more incapacitated than mere shackles could hope to accomplish.

"And I am - -" 

"Going to shut up until we're inside," Mace heard Skywalker growl, his blue eyes snapping like flares of lightning.

//Anakin, do please try to be civil?// came through the bond from Obi-Wan. //We _have_ to make certain Dooku is persuasive of the facts, or the Senate will tear itself apart and refuse to believe!//

"I believe we need to listen in good faith to the Jedi," Bail Organa said firmly, exerting his charisma, pulling even his opponents toward giving fair attention.

Yoda focused, finding the connection again with his own former Padawan. //Ask for your cooperation, I do. Curious, I am, as to your path. Ignore the slights of others, I request.// Dooku's pride could easily set him in opposition to being helpful; it was only fair that Yoda try and keep that from happening, when he could tell Kenobi was doing his best to contain Skywalker's anger.

Dooku blinked once in surprise as that connection opened, as he heard Master Yoda's voice through his mind, and for a moment he almost laughed. How long had it been since he'd wanted to laugh about anything other than someone else's misfortune? //As you would have it, then, my old Master. 

//As you would have it.// He shrugged in half-amusement at the Senators, and followed Yoda. 

++++

Obi-Wan Kenobi normally had the unshakable nerve of a krayt dragon facing Jawas. As he looked at the assembled Senators, he felt more like a Jawa in this moment, and wished life hadn't gotten quite so complicated.

Mace took pity on him and took control. "Senators, we summoned Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker to attend to the crisis with the Chancellor. The Jedi Council has full faith in their actions since they began that mission."

"Where is the Chancellor?" one of the Senators, one suspected of being a crony in Palpatine's circle, demanded.

"He is dead," Obi-Wan said, squaring his shoulders a breath before the reaction that exploded through the room could hit. 

None of the Senators present were given to screaming, but they were all skilled at projecting their voices throughout the Senate chamber, and for several moments each was attempting to be heard. Shock and horror and fear all pounded through the Force at each of the Jedi present, and with a glance, the three Masters present decided to let it play out. 

It was Senator Organa, again, who finally slapped his hands together, once, which began quieting the grouping... 

…and the crony of Palpatine's demanded into the quiet, "What do you mean the Chancellor is dead?! You were supposed to rescue him, not somehow get him killed! What are we to do without his leadership?!" 

"Put the Republic back together, I hope, Senator," Obi-Wan said in a steady voice. "Given that the Chancellor demanded Knight Skywalker kill an unarmed man without benefit of a trial, prompting the disclosure that it has been Palpatine, this entire time, operating as the Sith we knew as Darth Sidious." He raised his hands to still the outburst this time, using the Force to command attention, despite hating that aspect of the ability. "The Count has been brought as witness and is offering us the means to prove such."

"They're trying to cover up their own perfidy!" one of Palpatine's puppets, a Senator that had grown powerful because of the war, accused. "They protect their own! The Count was a Jedi!"

"Considering, sir," Mace said in a stronger tone than was maybe wise, "that outside of the clones, the Jedi have been paying the heaviest price to end this war, I suggest you give us the courtesy of listening." 

Obi-Wan saw Anakin blink, his head turning towards Master Windu for a moment, and wondered at the cause. Surely Anakin knew that Mace loved the Republic as fiercely as Anakin loved those he chose... 

...but that was certainly something for another time. He waited a moment in the silence, looking that Senator squarely in the eyes. "Senator, I am only telling you what I have seen and heard. We have lost our Chancellor -- a man I know many in this room counted as a friend -- along with probably thousands of our people in this assault. It is a terrible day for the Republic, and I am dismayed to bring you this news on top of it. 

"But I point out to you that Count Dooku _is_ now with us," he paused as he felt Yoda's focus brush over him, and the ancient master spoke in the next moment. 

"And troopers report Grievous' escape pod, destroyed it was. If within he was... that is unknown. But a positive, it is." 

Bail Organa drew himself up fully and then looked at his peers. "I will not hear of any more slights against the full Order for the malfeasance of their former members," he said, his voice firm. "That said…" and he locked eyes with the prisoner, "I suggest the Count begin elucidating us on where this proof, other than his spoken word, is."

Obi-Wan felt a shiver of relief wanting to erupt in his spine to have the strong-willed Senator take charge like that. 

"How do several hundred hours of recorded holocomms between your late Chancellor and myself, on any number of topics -- including Republic military positioning and how best to take advantage of that to prolong the war and remove as many Jedi from play as possible -- strike you, Senator?" Count Dooku asked, his mouth quirking slightly in what appeared to be genuine amusement. What was going on behind those dark eyes, Obi-Wan could not guess, but his voice was as amused as the expression. "If the answer is 'well', then two of the several data wafers are aboard my ship." 

Bail looked to the Corellian Senator. "Would you and our esteemed colleague from Bothawui go with a Jedi to gather them? That way both major interests inside the Senate, aside from mine, see where it comes from. I place my faith in the Jedi."

"I accept," Garm Bel Iblis said, looking to the other being.

"I as well," the other nodded once, rising from the seat she had taken, a sharp look cast towards where Dooku sat. "I am not entirely certain what to believe in any of this, so for the moment I will believe my eyes." 

Master Windu touched his wrist and spoke into the comm before looking at the Count with an arched brow. "Even that small a ship has a thousand hiding places, where are they?" 

"...you have had a bad few days of it, haven't you?" the Count asked in reply, before shrugging one shoulder slightly. "In the library, the data pad on the teachings of Master Risaan Burr. It's a fake, the wafers are inside, but don't let another try opening it."

A few moments later a young Knight stepped in... Obi-Wan saw hir color darken in dismay at the people looking at hir, but hir words came evenly. "Master Windu?"

"Take Senator Bel Iblis and Senator Jo'rai to the ship the Count arrived in, please." He then repeated the instructions on what to take and bring back. Mace hoped those recordings were conclusive; he felt like they were on the verge of a single shatterpoint large enough to engulf the galaxy when it snapped.

He wasn't certain what the outcome would be, either way.

Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin then. //My friend… are you injured?// he asked, knowing he still felt like he'd been chewed and spit out by a rancor.

//Huh?// Anakin blinked once, twice, before taking a quick inventory of his own body. //...no. Or at least, nothing worth mentioning,// he amended the words after a moment. //You got bashed around more than I did. 

//My vision. It -- it was right. The war _has_ to end now, doesn't it?// 

//I sincerely hope so.// Obi-Wan tentatively leaned into Anakin's strength of will to bolster his reserves, a wordless request for the aid and awareness that he would stop if Anakin protested. He just knew this meeting was going to drag on, and he had to stay sharp to negotiate it to a proper ending. 

He wasn't certain he had ever truly asked for this kind of help from Anakin before, even though he and Qui-Gon had done it on a regular basis for their harder missions.

Anakin blinked once as he felt that, the tentative draw against his strength, and it only took a moment to open up to it, to give Obi-Wan what he needed to get through this. He was firmly not-thinking about anything except making sure the Count didn't lash out with the Force, but that meant his strength was there to be used if his brother needed it. 

Obi-Wan sent him a wave of gratitude and then steadied to handle this necessity.

**Author's Note:**

> Cho Mai - severs the weapon hand entirely
> 
> Mou Kei - to dismember
> 
> Source - _The Jedi Path_


End file.
